Chapter 92. Ghost (1)

So Honggae, a Five-Knot Beggar and Hall Leader of the Beggar’s Gang.

As soon as he heard the news that Qingliang Xueshang had appeared, he led the beggars of Chimju and headed south.

‘Please, just be alive.’

He had pushed the young man who had helped the Beggar’s Gang into a deadly situation.

Although it was an unknowing act, he had caused trouble, so he had to fix it somehow.

On the way south to help Jin Yuseong.

New information came in.

The Hundred Yang Ten-Knot Grass discovered in the northern part of Guangdong province.

The martial artists of northern Guangdong who had flocked for it.

And the news that Qingliang Xueshang was also moving to claim it.

So Honggae, who had gathered every beggar he came across and continued south, received the news that Jin Yuseong had entered the scramble.

After entering the forest where the scramble was taking place.

How long had it been since he had started shouting while following the scent of blood?

“Ghost Sword Young Master!!”

He arrived at the battlefield, a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

‘C, crazy…….’

Among the countless corpses.

He could spot the figure of Jin Yuseong standing alone.

And the corpse of the old man sprawled at the feet of the young man, whose state was too wretched to be described as merely “covered in blood.”

‘H, how could he, at that age, kill an elder of the Unwol Sect?’

As So Honggae approached Jin Yuseong with such thoughts.

The martial artists surrounding Jin Yuseong began to retreat one by one.

They were already intimidated by Jin Yuseong’s martial prowess.

They had only remained, coveting the spiritual herb and thinking that he must be exhausted by now, waiting for an opportunity.

In the midst of that, as dozens of beggars swarmed in, their last hope had vanished.

Perhaps because of their lingering attachment, they looked at Jin Yuseong even as they backed away.

‘Ghost Sword Young Master, he says.’

‘What a truly terrible alias, befitting that ghoul-like bastard.’

While thinking such thoughts.

***

I watched the approaching So Honggae for a moment.

At the signs of presence, I turned my head and scanned the surroundings.

The remaining ghouls were retreating one by one.

I considered finishing them off, but soon clicked my tongue lightly.

It was obvious that So Honggae, who had approached by now, would interfere.

It would be a different story if I were in perfect condition.

It seemed too much to break through So Honggae’s interference and kill them.

Moreover, there was a more urgent matter at hand.

“Thank you for coming to help. First, would it be alright if I interrogate this man and then we talk? If I just leave him, he looks like he’ll die soon.”

I said, pointing at the sprawled Qingliang Xueshang on the ground with the Restoring Name Sword.

“……Let’s do that. Our Beggar’s Gang will start cleaning up in the meantime.”

After the brief conversation.

I turned my head and looked down at Qingliang Xueshang.

“Where is Hyeok Ilso now?”

“Don’t know……. Keuk. Heuk.”

I willingly thrust my sword towards the body of Qingliang Xueshang, who was spouting nonsense.

Crunch.

“Kuaaaaaaak!”

After cutting off one joint of his finger, I asked again.

“Where is Hyeok Ilso now?”

After continuing the torture for a while.

I was able to obtain some information.

As expected, the man was leading a martial unit called the Silver Wolf Unit.

He was said to be favored by the Unwol Sect Leader and was rapidly improving his skills while fighting against the other two factions.

Also, he was said to have headed to Chongqing to face the martial unit of another faction that operated a black market in the northwestern region of the Central Plains, the Black Heaven Sect.

However, Qingliang Xueshang only knew his general movements.

He didn’t know Hyeok Ilso’s exact location.

“Tsk.”

I clicked my tongue lightly and looked down at the corpse of Qingliang Xueshang.

The appearance of a powerless and frail old man.

It contrasted with the terrifying martial prowess this man had shown in the chaotic battle just a moment ago.

I felt a strange sensation.

I had dealt with a piece of trash who was several levels above me.

Of course, it was after luring him into a long and chaotic battle to exhaust him before hunting him down.

But what did that matter?

I had fought in this way in my previous life as well.

And in my previous life, even if I mobilized all possible means, such as poison, hidden weapons, and surprise attacks.

I couldn’t hunt such a master.

The most skilled master I could aim for in my previous life was, to put it bluntly, around the entry-level of the peak stage.

I could feel that so much had changed since I returned to the past.

I shook my head once and pushed away the thoughts.

Instead of dwelling on the past, I had to move forward towards my next target.

“Chongqing, you say…….”

The moment I was contemplating my future course of action.

So Honggae approached and spoke to me.

“What do you plan to do now?”

“You ask the obvious. I plan to find Hyeok Ilso. But, before that.”

I stopped talking and bent down to pick up the Hundred Yang Ten-Knot Grass that was lying at my feet.

“It seems I have to deal with this first.”

So Honggae tilted his head.

“Have you lost too much blood? If you’re going to eat a spiritual herb, you eat it, what do you mean by dealing with it?”

I started to wonder what nonsense this beggar was spouting.

“Why would I eat this? Please find the family of the herb gatherer who discovered this spiritual herb. With the Beggar’s Gang’s information network, it shouldn’t be difficult to find them.”

“……Surely, you don’t intend to return the Hundred Yang Ten-Knot Grass to that family?”

“If I didn’t know who the owner was, it would be a different story. But since I do, isn’t it natural human feeling to return it?”

For some reason.

So Honggae looked at me with a speechless expression and then muttered as if he was dumbfounded.

“Just what on earth are you…….”

***

As expected of the Beggar’s Gang’s information network.

Among the beggars who had come, there was one who knew where the herb gatherer’s family lived.

However, I failed to return the Hundred Yang Ten-Knot Grass to them.

Because they refused the Hundred Yang Ten-Knot Grass.

“……My father passed away because of that cursed object. An object unsuited to one’s station will only bring disaster.”

“I am just grateful that you have avenged my husband. So please, young warrior, take that herb. And please help those who have been wronged like us. That is all I ask for.”

With words like these.

But I couldn’t just accept the spiritual herb.

Above all, there was a risk that the children who had lost their father would starve to death.

At that time, Junior Sister Baek Hyang came up with an idea.

“There are items that the Beggar’s Gang collected while cleaning up the last battle, right? There were hundreds of weapons lying around there, so if you sell them, it should be quite a sum of money.”

At his junior sister’s logical words, So Honggae only blinked his eyes.

Somehow, I ended up taking the Hundred Yang Ten-Knot Grass on my way back.

I held out the Hundred Yang Ten-Knot Grass to Junior Sister Baek Hyang.

“Consume this.”

“……Wouldn’t it be better for you to take it, Senior Brother?”

I shook my head.

“It is said that too much is as bad as too little. Think of the Choi Manor’s lord from last time.”

It was one of the biggest reasons I had decided to hand it over to my junior sister.

The man had looked like a puppet being controlled by that overflowing energy.

Apart from the fact that the man had absorbed the energy in a wicked way, it felt like if I were to increase my internal energy unreasonably without consolidating my foundation, I would end up in a similar state.

And I had a similar thought while facing Qingliang Xueshang this time.

In the end, in a real battle, the level of martial arts, internal energy, external energy, and practical experience.

All of these had to be in proper balance.

From that perspective, I already possessed internal energy that matched my level and external energy.

No.

Thanks to the spiritual herbs I had consumed so far, it seemed my internal energy was overflowing compared to my level.

In that case, it seemed better for my junior sister, who couldn’t display her inherent insight and talent due to a lack of internal energy, to consume it.

Since my junior sister still seemed to be hesitating, I added.

“Do you remember what the herb gatherer’s family said just now? Consume this spiritual herb and use the power gained from it to punish the wicked. Like that family, that is all I ask for.”

Junior Sister Baek Hyang, who had been hesitating, extended her hand with a determined expression.

“Yes. Senior Brother. I will definitely strive to punish such people. Together with you, Senior Brother.”

I didn’t know why she emphasized being with me at the end.

At that time, the guy from the Tang Clan, who had been listening to our conversation quietly from the side, opened his mouth.

“Hmm. What a pity.”

“Are you perhaps greedy for the spiritual herb?”

When I asked with a frown, Dang Sopyeong snorted.

“A spiritual herb full of yang energy is the nemesis of poison arts. It’s not like I’m going to burn up all the poison qi I’ve just started to accumulate in my dantian, do you think I’m crazy enough to eat that?”

“Then what’s so pitiful?”

“If I had just a few medicinal ingredients, I could make a pill that’s twice as effective, but it’s a pity that I don’t have those herbs right now.”

I nodded my head involuntarily.

Come to think of it, the reason that guy was confined in the Sichuan Sword Clan was because of his alchemy skills.

“What herbs are needed to make that pill?”

Dang Sopyeong rattled off the names of the medicinal ingredients.

He even consecutively came up with alternative ingredients for when each one was lacking.

“In any case, what’s important is to achieve a balance of yin and yang, so as long as the ratio is right, it can be replaced with herbs like these.”

Only then did I realize.

That I had been misunderstanding something.

It didn’t mean that I had been misunderstanding Dang Sopyeong as a moron all this time.

That thought remained unchanged.

My misunderstanding of the Poison Immortal, not Dang Sopyeong, was somewhat cleared up.

‘Perhaps he wasn’t staying in Guangxi because he had lingering feelings for the clan,’ I thought.

The Poison Immortal’s hiding place.

Heavenly Peak Ridge.

A wide variety of poisonous and medicinal herbs.

Medicinal ingredients were available there.

Of course, the ingredients I had just heard from Dang Sopyeong were also there.

Also, that Heavenly Peak Ridge, located in the eastern part of Guangxi Province, was not far from here.

If we traveled on foot, it would take more than ten days, but if we moved using our movement arts, we could reach it in about seven days and nights.

As I estimated the distance to that place, a problem came to mind.

Should I head to Chongqing, or should I head to Heavenly Peak Ridge in Guangxi?

It wasn’t in the complete opposite direction, but if I went to Heavenly Peak Ridge, it would be a huge detour.

In the meantime, there was a high possibility that Hyeok Ilso would have left Chongqing and moved elsewhere.

I calmly organized my thoughts.

Right.

Even if I headed to Chongqing now, there was no guarantee that I would encounter him.

I only knew that he was in Chongqing.

I didn’t know exactly where in Chongqing he was.

So, it seemed better to head towards the certain Heavenly Peak Ridge and complete the pill.

Also, the man was no longer the branch leader of the black market.

He was said to be the leader of the Silver Wolf Unit, one of the Unwol Sect’s martial units.

There was a high possibility that I would have to face him and his subordinates at the same time.

Considering that, creating a pill and improving Junior Sister Baek Hyang’s skills was a more rational choice in many ways.

But for some reason.

Every time these logical reasons came to mind, my fists trembled.

He was the target of my revenge and someone I had vowed to kill.

The thought of postponing the search for him made a fire rage within me.

The sounds from my surroundings brought me back to my senses.

“Senior Brother……?”

“B, bro, what’s wrong? A, are you not feeling well anywhere?”

“Damn it. Could it be that a mental demon has found you?”

The three of them were looking at me with faces full of worry.

Right.

There was no need to deliberately drive them into a crisis because of my impatience.

Above all, it would be foolish to throw away such an opportunity for my junior sister to become drastically stronger because of impatience.

Even more so when considering the talent of my junior sister, who was notorious in the future as the Lust Disaster.

I tried to think positive thoughts.

Anyway, that guy was at war with some trash called the Black Heaven Sect.

Since the trash was killing each other, it would be a help to the world.

The scene of the chaotic battle I had fought today naturally came to mind.

The ghouls who were fighting among themselves over a spiritual herb that wasn’t even theirs.

How ridiculous was the sight of them killing each other?

When Hyeok Ilso’s image overlapped with theirs, my anger subsided a little.

Because that Hyeok Ilso bastard would also be doing stupid things with those guys from the Black Heaven Sect.

After calming the fire raging inside me, I spoke to Dang Sopyeong.

“I know a place where the herbs you mentioned grow. For now, our next destination will be there.”

Dang Sopyeong looked at Jin Yuseong with surprised eyes.

“Th, there’s a place that has all of them? They’re not called spiritual herbs, but. They’re all quite rare herbs, you know?”

“I know.”

“How on earth do you know of such a spiritual place?”

“I saw it with my own eyes.”

Dang Sopyeong fell silent for a moment, then asked with a somewhat complicated expression.

“……Just what kind of person were you? A guy who was supposedly a waiter seems to know everything.”

It was a useless question, so I ignored it appropriately and walked away.

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